Online candidate forum on nonprofits

The Community Foundation and the Human Services Alliance have produced a virtual forum for city council candidates countywide to share their views on the nonprofit community.

Candidates were asked about their involvement with the county’s nonprofit community, how their city can increase its inclusiveness and what ideas they have to address volatile sales tax revenues, a portion of which is used to support local nonprofits.

The virtual forum, which features brief video interviews with candidates from each city, can be found at www. commfound.org/news/candidatesforum09.html.

Boulder County’s nonprofit sector is a significant local employee base and economic driver, representing a $300 million payroll.

Kaiser Permanente and Roche Colorado Corporation helped support the project.

Lobby for U.S. 36 funding

Last month, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) applied for funding for the U.S. 36 corridor from a U.S. Department of Transportation grant program, and the organization 36 Commuting Solutions is looking for help to build support for the application.

If the corridor is selected for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant program, Hwy. 36 will see significant construction improvements, a decade ahead of what is currently planned.

More than 1,400 applications have been submitted for projects nationwide, totalling $56.6 billion — nearly 38 times the $1.5 billion that is available. For more information, visit www.36commutingsolutions.org/take_action.htm or call 303-439-8517.

Event benefits Women’s Wilderness Institute

Multiple sclerosis survivor and mountaineer Wendy Booker will speak at benefit for the Boulder-based Women’s Wilderness Institute, a nonprofit offering wilderness experiences for women and girls, on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. at the Denver Newspaper Agency.

Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien will introduce Booker and host the event, which is called Moving Mountains.

Booker will discuss how she used mountain climbing as a way of coping with a life-altering diagnosis of MS. After her diagnosis, Booker learned about a team of mountain climbers with MS who were attempting to climb Mt. McKinley in Alaska. With no previous climbing experience, she dedicated a year to hard training and set off with them in 2002. Although weather conditions prohibited the team from summiting, Booker tried again on her own in 2004 and succeeded.

The feeling of accomplishment propelled her next aspiration: to climb the highest mountain on each continent. Since then, Booker has successfully reached the top of five of The Seven Summits.

Tickets for Moving Mountains are $100 and are available at womenswilderness.org or by calling 303-938-9191.

Patagonia wants your vote

Patagonia is hosting its second annual “Voice Your Choice” campaign, in which members of the public can cast votes on how the Boulder Patagonia store should distribute $5,000 in grant money to three local environmental organizations. The top vote-getter will be awarded $2,500, with the second- and third-place organizations receiving $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.

Local groups nominated for the award are the Growe Foundation (www. growefoundation.org), Colorado Horse Rescue (www.chr.org), and Freiker (www. freiker.org).

Votes will be accepted at the 1212 Pearl St. store through Oct. 24. Participants can cast one vote per store per visit.

No purchase is necessary. The candidates were selected by Patagonia store members, based on their local focus and range of environmental concerns. Winners will be announced in early November.

Patagonia retail stores in 25 communities throughout the country will be participating in the campaign as part of the company’s support for environmental causes.

Ground broken for Valmont City Park

The City of Boulder’s Parks and Recreation Department hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 17 at Valmont City Park, at the corner of Valmont and Airport roads. At 132 acres, Valmont City Park is the largest parcel of land designated for park development in Boulder.

Beginning this fall, phase one construction calls for the development of a dog park, an 18-hole disc-golf course and a 40-acre bike park.

Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Event speakers included members of the Boulder City Council, Parks and Recreation Department and the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance (BMA), the city’s partner in the Valmont bike park.

For more information on Valmont City Park, visit www.ValmontCityPark. org or call Paul Bousquet at 303-413- 7239.